Hospital blouse



June 10, 1924.

H. P. SCOTT HOSPITAL BLOUSE Filed May 24, 1922.

Patented June 10, 1924.

O F F IC E I-IENRIETTA. PACE SCOTT, 0F NEWBERN, TENNESSEE.

HOSPITAL BLOUSE.

Application filed May 24,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRIETTA PAGE SCOTT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newbern, in the county of Dyer and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in H0spital Blouses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a blouse, and particularly to a garment of that type to be worn by feeble-minded or insane persons orby others upon the use of whose hands and arms it is necessary or desirable to impose a certain restraint.

In the care and treatment of the feebleminded and insane, great diliiculty, much annoyance and inconvenience, and oftentimes some danger are experienced because of the tendency of the patient to use his hands and arms, mischievously and detrimentally. These actions may take the form of biting the hands and arms of the patient himself or scratching or 'tearing his face, hands or other parts of his body. Injury may also be done in similar manner to the patients clothing or even to persons and inanimate objects within his reach. With many such patients the tendency to thus cause injury to themselves and damage to their surroundings is habitual and constitutes a matter of great annoyance and inconvenience to the physicians, nurses and others interested in their treatment and pro` tection'.

From the nature of the cases, corrective efforts are of little or no avail and the preventive measures heretofore employed have consisted principally of the application of the notorious strait-jacket, by the application of which any movement of the limbs is rendered impossible. Devices of this sort, however, have long been regarded as cruel and inhumane and their use is now generally prohibited or discouraged.

The object of my invention is to provide a device which will eiectively remove the possibility of injury by or to the hands and arms of the person to whom it is applied, but will not bind or unduly restrain the arms and will not otherwise interfere with the freedom of movement of the person.

A further object is to provide a device for this purpose, which can be easily and inexpensively produced and which can be quickly and conveniently applied as a body garment. While the device is primarily in- 1922. kSerial No. 563,278.

tended for insane or feeble-minded persons, it may also be made in sizes suitable for children and may be applied to babies or young children, who habitually give trouble because of the thumb-sucking habit or other mischievous uses of their hands. Y

The nature of the invention will be apparent from the description, taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

Figures l and 2 are respectively front and rear elevational views of the device in use,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View of the device, and

Figure 4 is an' enlarged detail view.

The invention consists of a blouse l, comprising layers of cloth, leather or other suitable material secured together at or near their edge portions. One of the layers is so formed and shaped as to be capable of being fitted to and worn about the body of a person, this layer, 2, forming a body member fitting more or less closely about the body,

somewhat in the nature of a vest, when the garment is in position. The body member 2, is provided with openings 4 through which the arms of the wearer may be inserted. Superposed upon the body member and encircling the same when in use, is a relatively loose-fitting layer which forms a blouse member 3. When in use the Wearers arms and handsare enclosed in the space 5 between the body member 2 and the blouse member 3, the arms being inserted into this spacev through lthe openings 4, when the garment is put on.

The body member and the blouse member may be formed of one piece of material looped or folded over at the bottom of the garment, but are preferably made separately and the body member 2 sewed or otherwise securely attached to the turned-up bottom end 14 of the blouse'member. Both of these parts are secured at the top to a suitable collar 6, which may be of the same or different material as the other parts.

Both the body member 2 and the blouse memberS are preferably permanently closed in front. After being put on, the ends 7 and 8 of the garment are drawn together at the back and the garment fastened securely about the wearer by lacing cords 9, as shown, or by any other suitable means. For this purpose, lacing is somewhat preferable to buckles, or other metallic devices, for the reason that it affords no inconvenience to the patient when lying upon his back.

Further securing means are provided at the bottom ofthe garment to hold it in place. The preferred means employed for this purpose consists of a pair of straps l0,

secured to the bottom of the body member 2, and each adapted to Vbe buckled, about a leg of the patient. The straps are hidden by the depending loose bottom portion of the blouse member 3. Preferably, the blouse memberv is ofsufficient length and fullness topermit the wearer'to extend his arms their full length at his sides, andto move themaboutnaturally, within certain limits.

The garmentmay, if desired, have its enclosed; arm-space 5. divided into separate compartments l2 and lby sewing or otherwise securing the blouse member to the body member substantially along the median line of the `garment at the gfront, as indicated at l5. By this means the hands of the patient are separated and he is positively prevented from scratchingor tearing his own hands or arms. Y

VThe garment is preferably made of leather, since thismaterial cannoteasily be torn or punctured. Other and lighter materials, such as fabric, may be suitable in somef'cases. Forv greater strength andsecurity, the blouse member is padded or reinforcedaround the-neck portion to form a yoke 16, which will more effectively resist any possible efforts offthe patient to tear theneck portion-of the garment with his teeth. f Y

' I claim:

l. A body garment comprising a body member, adapted to b'efitted about the body of the wearer, anda Iblouse member secured to and extendingcompletely across the' front of said body `member, to provide an enclosed space between said members Vadapted tofreceive the arms and hands-of thewearer.

2. A body garment comprising a body member adapted to be fitted about the body of the wearer, a blouse member secured to and extending completely across the front of said body member to provide an enclosed .space for the arms and hands of the wearer,

said body member having openings in communication with-said enclosed space through which the arms may be inserted, and means for fastening 4the garment about the body of the wearer.

3. A body garment comprising a body member adapted to be fitted about the body of the wearer and provided with a collar portion and openings through which the arms ofthe wearer may be inserted, a superposed blouse member secured to and completely enclosing said body member to form an enclosed space between said members adapted to receive and enclose the hands and arms of the wearer, said body member and blouse member being closed in front and open at the back, means at the back of the garment for fastening said members about the body of the wearer, and means at the bottom portion of the body member adapted to be secured about the legs of the wearer.

4. A body garment'comprising a body member adapted to be fitted about the body of the wearer and provided with openings through which the arms of the wearer may be inserted, a superposed blouse member secured to said body member to form an enclosed space between said members adapted to receive and loosely enclose the hands and arms of the wearer, said members being closed in front, means for securing the gar ment about the body of the wearer, and means for dividing said enclosed space into separate compartments, each adapted to enclose an arm of the wearer.

HENRIETTA PACE SCOTT. 

